Karnataka High Court stays FIR against YouTuber Sameer MD

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday stayed the proceedings in a criminal case filed against Kannada YouTuber Sameer MD on allegations that he offended religious sentiments while discussing a 2012 rape and murder case in one of his videos..Justice Hemant Chandangoudar passed the interim stay order on a petition filed by Sameer to quash the first information report (FIR) filed against him. The Court passed the interim order after Sameer's counsel contended that the YouTuber had not uttered a single word against any religion or religious belief in his video. His counsel added that all statements made in the video were on the basis of publicly available information. The police have registered a case only on the basis that there was some indirect insinuation against a particular place and a person in charge of administering a temple, the counsel added. The Court proceeded to stay criminal proceedings against Sameer till the next date of hearing on March 19. .The video in question, titled "Dharmasthala Soujanya Case," was uploaded by the YouTuber last month. The video is said to recount the tragic rape and murder of a 17-year-old college student in 2012, the events leading to the acquittal of the prime accused, one Santosh Rao, and an ongoing movement seeking justice for the rape victim.According to reports, the video also indicated that the police had botched the probe and arrested the wrong person for the crime.Further, it reportedly contained veiled references to D Veerendra Heggade, the head of an influential temple named Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, who was accused of shielding the actual perpetrators of the crime.This prompted the police to register a criminal case against the YouTuber under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which punishes acts that outrage the feelings of any class of persons by insulting their religion or religious beliefs..Earlier, another single-judge of the Court, Justice M Nagaprasanna, had stayed a police notice issued to Sameer in connection with the same case on the night of March 5. Sameer had alleged that the police had barged into his residence that night and that an attempt to arrest him was thwarted only because his lawyers were present. He proceeded to file a petition questioning the police notice, which was heard by the High Court on March 6. During the hearing, Justice Nagaprasanna noted that the police notice was issued without attaching a copy of the FIR, which was mandatory. The Court, therefore, passed an interim order staying the police notice till March 12, when the matter was to be heard next. .Meanwhile, Sameer moved another plea seeking to quash the FIR against him. He contended that none of the ingredients of the alleged offences are made out against him and that the Bellary police, which booked him, do not have the territorial jurisdiction to investigate the case since Sameer resides in Bengaluru. His counsel yesterday added that Sameer was at risk of being arrested, having his videos frozen and his equipment seized. After hearing these preliminary arguments, Justice Chandangoundar proceeded to grant him interim relief. .Sameer's plea to quash the FIR was filed through Advocates Pawan Shyam, A Velan and Ojaswi.